1,071 marching Indian Runner ducks provide natural pest control

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At Vergenoegd Wine Estate, there are 1,071 Indian Runner ducks known as the quack squad and they mean business. They’re released every morning and are trained to march down to the vineyard in a long line. The ducks are used as organic pest control to stop pests and snails from ruining the grapes.

Fruit trees and chickens in your backyard

Chickens and fruit trees are an excellent match. Once established, fruit trees are big enough so that they can’t be damaged or dug up by chickens.

I have a lemon tree, lemonade tree, fig tree, passion fruit, pawpaws and a young mulberry tree.

I get heaps of juicy fruit off them and the chickens do a lot of the work for me. They spend most of their day around my fruit trees because they provide shade, and they love to scratch around for insects.

Chickens in lemon orchard

The benefits of keeping chickens with fruit trees

Chickens and fruit trees are a combination that is simple but so incredibly effective. Here is a list of some of the benefits:

Benefits to the orchard:

Chickens keep bugs under control

Chickens clean up rotten fruit

Chicken manure provides free fertilizer for your fruit trees.

Benefits to the chickens:

Free food for your chickens

A diet for your chickens which is closer to their natural diet

Fruit trees and shrubs provide shade from the heat

Fruit trees provide shelter for chickens from predators such as hawks

Fruit trees keep your chickens active and it takes their focus away from being destructive in other areas of your backyard